Riding the rising wave of quick commerce and food delivery, Yulu – an electric bike rental company – has crossed a key milestone. The Bengaluru-based startup has turned a profit at the operating level and seen its annual recurring revenue surpass $30 million.
Founded in 2017, Yulu offers electric two-wheeler transport services across major cities like Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai. It has scaled up its fleet size to over 40,000 electric bikes. This expansion was supported by rising demand from quick commerce players for last-mile deliveries.
Yulu says its electric fleet now covers close to 100% of dark stores (distribution centers) of quick commerce companies. The bikes account for 35-80% of vehicles used at store-level. This strong network integration has helped Yulu increase its order volumes and user base over sevenfold in the last two years.
The company’s focus on battery swapping infrastructure and partnerships with leading delivery startups like Zepto, Blinkit and Swiggy have also fueled its growth. Supportive policies around e-mobility and e-commerce enacted by central and state governments have further augmented demand.
As revenue jumped, Yulu achieved an important milestone – it recorded a positive EBITDA for the first time in the financial year ending March 2023. EBITDA or operating profit is a key measure of profitability at the business level.
To sustain its expansion plans, Yulu will raise $100 million in a new funding round over the next year. The company aims to deploy one lakh or 100,000 electric bikes across multiple cities by 2025. This capital will power Yulu’s footprint expansion to emerging tech hubs like Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai as well.
In summary, by tapping the synergies between quick commerce and electric transportation, Yulu has managed to not just scale its operations but also achieve profitability – an important benchmark for sustainability in the high-growth mobility sector.
